Eric’s Rutabaga Soup Recipe

Rutabaga Soup

Eric said I should write this one up, I guess that means it was tasty!

If you’ve seen rutabagas in the store and wondered what you could do with them, try this recipe. This soup takes advantage of the rutabaga’s sweetness while disguising its cabbage-y flavor. Rutabagas are an excellent source of Vitamin C, folate, potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, iron, niacin, and Vitamin A. Raw rutabaga contains an exceptionally high amount of the cancer-fighting glucosinolates, even more than other cabbage members.

I had no idea, until I looked it up for this post, that the rutabaga originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip, and in my opinion, they taste better than either. In WWI Germany, the famine of 1916-17 was known as the Rutabaga Winter. They are tough to peel with a knife, a vegetable peeler works much better. Many people serve them roasted and buttered, fried or whatever, but I like them to disappear into a soup. You can use a small one, two small ones, one large, whatever, this is a very forgiving recipe. Rutabagas are also called Swedes or Swedish turnips which would make this Swedish Turnip soup:

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 onion

2 stalks celery

1 rutabaga (any size, peeled and diced)

1 carton low sodium broth or water

2 bayleaves

1 can stewed or readycut tomatoes (14.5 oz can)

1 Tbsp paprika

salt & pepper to taste.

Process:

Slice and sauté onion and celery in oils, peel and cube rutabaga and add to pot, pour in half the broth, add bayleaf and simmer until rutabaga is soft. Then, mash rutabaga with a masher or fork, add tomatoes and remaining ingredients and simmer 15 minutes or so to blend flavors, serves 4, about 140 calories per serving.

Notes:

If you want to cook it faster, you can cut up the rutabaga and cook it in the microwave and then stir it into the sautéd vegetables. For a more elegant and higher-fat soup, puree the finished soup through a blender and either stir in one cup of cream or serve each portion with dollop of sour cream.